Middle East
Debate between Keir Starmer and Naz Shah(2 weeks, 1 day ago)
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The Prime Minister
The hon. Lady raises an important point. We are working at pace to deal with the drones and are working with our Ukrainian colleagues, who have been facing this for four years. We have been working with them on that, and we are working with them to help to protect allies who are under attack in the region.
Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)
Overnight, my constituents have lost the benefit—promised to them only last week—of savings on energy prices through the attacks on refineries across Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Oil prices have soared, and gas prices in Europe have surged by upwards of 52% in the last few hours. The longer this carries on, it risks escalation across the middle east. Closer to home, it impacts on the day-to-day lives of the British people through increased energy costs. What assessment have the Government made of the risk of energy prices to British households, and what efforts is the Prime Minister making to ensure that we can de-escalate sooner rather than later?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the impact on the day-to-day lives of our constituents. We are carefully monitoring that, as she would expect, and we are doing all that we can with our allies to de-escalate the situation.
Middle East
Debate between Keir Starmer and Naz Shah(5 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. There can be no way that Hamas can play any role in a Palestinian state. That is the absolute red line of all those that recognised Palestine earlier this year, and the red line of the New York declaration. It is a really important and fundamental red line that has to be kept to—for all the reasons that she has set out and that I think everybody across this House understands.
On the security and safety of Jews in this country, of course we must step up. That needs to be done in a number of ways, including through practical support and financial support. Sad though it is to say that we need to put even more security around our synagogues and schools, so that children can go safely to school in this country, we must do it. The Government have already been working on that for some considerable time. I took the time, on the day after the Manchester attack, to talk to the Community Security Trust and other leaders about what more we can do in that regard. I am more than happy to work across the House on this; we owe it to our Jewish community that we are seen to be working together on these important measures, and I thank the hon. Member for her support.
Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)
May I first associate myself with the comments of the Prime Minister regarding the heinous attack in Manchester and on Peacehaven mosque? An attack on any place of worship is an attack on our democracy and way of life.
I thank the Prime Minister, his team—in particular, his Ministers—and our National Security Adviser for all their efforts and for the recognition of Palestine. As was stated earlier, it is long overdue and, historically, puts right what we should have done a long time ago. That has no doubt contributed to where we are today, so I once again want to say a huge thank you.
Over 92% of homes in Gaza have been erased, with more than 730,000 people displaced, including 520,000 children, could the Prime Minister outline in detail what more is being done to rebuild Gaza in addition to aid and to our conversations?